


Shot Through The Heart

by wholocker78218



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Laser Tag, no one else had written it so here we are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:21:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29043027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholocker78218/pseuds/wholocker78218
Summary: The Squad take Barba to play laser tag, 'not everything done in the dark is shameful'.No angst, not even a little, this is fluff and flirting.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Olivia Benson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 72





	Shot Through The Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Did someone say laser-tag Barson? No? Just me then.
> 
> I was in the mood to write and this the first things that came to mind
> 
> Update on Hogwarts Barson, it's coming along alright, longer than I expected so it will be a while before any of it is posted but if you want to stay uptown date til the progress find me on Tumblr @angelicdestieldemon
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoy and remember requests are open!

“I’ve never shot a gun before and you want to take me to play laser tag with a bunch of trained police officers…?” Rafael stares at Olivia like she’s lost her mind.

“It’ll be fun,” she counters, placing her hands on his desk and leaning forwards slightly, a smile on her face.

“To see me get my ass kicked?” He stands, mirroring her stance and he’s thankful his desk is so big because otherwise, their faces would be dangerously close.

He restrains himself from glancing down at her lips, but it isn’t an easy task.

“When was the last time you had honest to god fun, besides think of this as your chance to shoot Carisi and not get arrested for it,” the grin on her lips tells him that she knows she’s won.

He rolls his eyes and drops his head before looking up through his lashes, mumbling out a ‘fine’. Olivia stands up promising to text him the address and time for that Saturday.

After she has left, Rafael allows himself to smile tenderly. Olivia had waltzed into his office and before she spoke, he knew he would end up agreeing to whatever she asked of him, personally mind, professionally he would be reasonable.

He can’t understand why a bunch of middle-aged adults are going to play a kid’s game but being able to relax outside of work is as good a reason as any, he supposes. As much as he would like Liv to believe that he just wants to shoot Carisi, it’s because of her. It always will be, he cares for her more than she would ever believe.

* * *

Rafael planned his outfit carefully trying to gauge the balance of appropriate and something he wouldn’t mind getting dirty. Jeans and a polo seemed like the best choice.

He was still over-dressed compared to the squad, but he was comfortable, and that’s all that mattered.

“Okay, so we will be splitting into two teams, red vs blue, the aim of the first round is just to ‘tag all of the other team to win,” Olivia announced as they all strapped themselves up with the equipment.

Rafael familiarised himself with the gun. While he has never fired an actual gun before, he played plenty of shooting games at the arcade as a teenager and had very good aim. His main advantage here will be that no one is expecting him to be any good at this.

“Red team will be, myself, Amanda and Nick and on the blue team will be Fin, Sonny and Rafael. If you get shot, you’re out for the rest of the round, but you’re back in for the next one,” Liv explains, as they all prepare to enter the dark arena, lit up only by LED lights.

There is a red door and a blue door for each team to enter different sides of the arena, Liv tells them to prepare themselves and wait for the klaxon which will start the round.

Rafael follows his team into the arena, his eyes adjusting slowly to the lights.

They don’t really have a team strategy, Fin and Sonny give Rafael a nod before they both disappear into the dark. Rafael squints into the darkness, searching for somewhere to hide. He notices a ramp leading up to a makeshift tower that looks impressive in the dark, but he imagines that it wouldn’t look so good if the lights were on.

Taking a chance, he moves up the ramp and almost walks past a fairly narrow hideout, there are no lights inside, but he can see out onto the arena floor. The lighting on the floor makes it easier to decipher his friends.

The klaxon sounds and the game begins.

There are several blind spots that he can’t see but when Nick walks out between two of the structures Rafael aims and fires, the first shot must miss but the second one hits Nick and his lights flash.

Rafael takes much pleasure in the Spanish swear Nick utters before making his way to exit.

A minute or so later Rafael hears Sonny laugh before he too makes his way to the exit and Rafael wonders who was able to get the jump on him. His question is answered when Amanda follows the route Sonny took but instead of heading for the exit, she shields herself on a structure in Rafael’s line of sight. He grins evilly to himself before taking aim.

He manages to hit her first time and watches with glee as her lights flash. She glances around in the darkness around her, wondering where the shot came from and Rafael knows that this is the best place to be.

A few minutes of silence later he hears Liv laugh and the sound is music to his ears. But neither she nor Fin makes their way to the exit, so Rafael assumes it was a close call between them. Liv moves through the dark confidently, too quick for Rafael to take aim when he gets the chance, and he relies on Fin to catch out their friend.

Eventually, he spots the vague glow of flashing red lights and Liv makes her way to the exit. Rafael exits the hideout as covertly as possible and makes his way back down to the floor. The red team congratulate the blue team when Rafael and Fin emerge.

“You might have missed your calling Rafa,” Liv teases. “I don’t think anyone saw you once the whole time we were in there, but you still took out my team.”

Rafael smirks triumphantly.

“Don’t worry Liv, I’ll get you next time,” he teases back, for a second forgetting the rest of the squad are also present.

Liv must do the same as she glares at him but without even a hint of anger, silently accepting the challenge, before Sonny coughs and they suddenly remember where they are.

Each team heads for the appropriate door once more. Rafael heads to the hideout again and waits for the klaxon.

The arena is silent, the initial excitement for the first game has worn off a little and everyone is taking this round a little more seriously. A few times he is able to see a shadow move in his sights, but it turns out to be Sonny or Fin. So, far no one has been tagged and Rafael has to hold his will against the temptation to leave his safe space. The minutes drag on and he can hear the sound of running from across the arena but it’s too far to be able to make out who is chasing who, he sees the flashing of multiple lights as Nick and Fin exit the Arena laughing. Rafael assumes they hit each other.

That’s when he hears it: the soft cautious steps of someone approaching his hideout. Rafael feels his heartbeat quicken as he struggles to quiet his breathing. The footsteps are deathly quiet, and Rafael flattens himself as quietly as possible against the wall, hoping the darkness will hide him.

It turns out to be Liv and Rafael grins when she makes the same mistake he did and doesn’t notice the hideout. She makes her way down the corridor to a room with a strip of LED’s along the ceiling, allowing Rafael not to lose her in the darkness.

Rafael silently exits the hideout just as he hears Amanda curse and exit the arena. Liv is the last one remaining on the red team. As he moves closer, he can see Liv is staring out a hole in the wall to the arena floor. He moves closer with his gun up, waiting for the right moment and tries not to make a noise when Liv spots a flash of blue and shoots Sonny, her aim far better than Rafael’s and then it’s just the two of them. He takes his chance.

He crosses the floor quickly but quietly; he could shoot her from where he is standing but where would be the fun in that. Just as he is able to get within reach of her, Liv turns with her gun pointed at his chest, his stance mirroring hers.

The light above them illuminates the teasing smile on her lips and he replicates that grin with his own.

“So, this is where you’ve been hiding?” she jests and Rafael shrugs his shoulders, neither confirming nor denying anything.

“What’ll it be Rafa? How is this going to play out?”

Rafael takes a step closer until he can feel the pressure of the gun on his sensor vest, and she returns the favour. The low lighting makes it only just possible for him to notice the twitch of her finger on the trigger, but she doesn’t pull it.

Their eyes meet and they move closer until their guns are moved out the way. He has no idea why he is being so bold, but none of his actions have made that teasing smile falter so he carries on.

“I don’t doubt that you’d beat me to the trigger,” Rafael’s voice softens to a whisper. Olivia doesn’t reply but her eyebrows raise in a challenge. “But there may be another way I can stop you from shooting me.”

Rafael takes another step forward; Olivia doesn’t move. Another step and their guns start to drop to their sides, they’re almost touching now, and the silence is deafening but the darkness makes him bold and before he can stop himself, he closes the gap between them letting the tension between them take over.

He kisses her and she kisses back almost immediately. Olivia breaks the kiss to push him backwards into the wall and reclaims his mouth. Every feeling of love and emotion pouring out between them into the kiss until they part just enough to catch their breaths.

Lights flash on Olivia’s vest and she looks down to see his gun pointed at her chest.

“You-” Rafael cuts her off with another kiss and she laughs into his mouth and he knows he’s forgiven.

“You play dirty, Rafa.”

He merely grins, taking her hand in his and tugging her towards the ramp to re-join the squad.

She shoots him from behind and he laughs.


End file.
